Our Economy (final part of three)

Greed

There are two major types of greed. Greed for money and greed or a lust for power. Both are quite common and both are disastrous for most people because they have neither. But greed can only thrive where there is corruption. So, as you have already guessed, there is plenty of corruption at all levels of government. If there wasn't massive corruption — greed would wither away and die.

Stockholders, AKA gamblers, are a major driving force for both corruption and greed — you can't have one without the other. As such publicly traded companies will do just about anything (use your imagination on that) to secure money from gamblers. So too will:

Investment banks and bankers,

Both major political parties and, of course;

Government.

Now, how many financial companies have been nailed to the cross for fraud in this financial Titanic story? I can only think of one — Goldman Sachs. And it is only a civil suit brought by the SEC. Quoting the Wall Street Journal:

"Regulators say Goldman allowed Mr. Paulson's firm, Paulson & Co., to help design a financial investment known as a CDO, or collateralized debt obligation, built out of a specific set of risky mortgage assets - essentially setting up the CDO for failure. Paulson then bet against it, while investors in the CDO weren't told of Paulson's role or intentions.

" 'The product was new and complex, but the deception and conflicts are old and simple', said Robert Khuzami, the SEC's enforcement chief.

"Mr. Paulson and his firm aren't named as defendants. The hedge-fund firm said in a statement that it wasn't involved in marketing the bonds to third parties. 'Goldman made the representations, Paulson did not', Mr. Khuzami said."

" 'These charges are far more severe than anyone had imagined', and suggest Goldman teamed with 'the leading short-seller in the industry [Paulson] to design a portfolio of securities that would crash', said John Coffee, a securities law professor at Columbia Law School in New York.

" 'The greatest penalty for Goldman is not the financial damages - Goldman is enormously wealthy - but the reputational damage', he said, adding that 'it's not impossible' to contemplate that the case could lead to criminal charges. Coffee spoke on Reuters Insider."

Criminally, the only top dog, ... er ... scumbag, in this latest of financial Titanic stories to be charged is Bernard Madoff. He was never tried and convicted of anything. Not nothing. He plead guilty to a mere 11 federal crimes and was subsequently sentenced to 150 years in prison, the maximum allowed by law. Quoting Wikipedia:

"Madoff [. . .] admitted to turning his wealth management business into a massive Ponzi scheme that defrauded thousands of investors of billions of dollars. Madoff said he began the Ponzi scheme in the early 1990s. However, federal investigators believe the fraud began as early as the 1980s, and that the investment operation may never have been legitimate. The amount missing from client accounts, including fabricated gains, was almost $65 billion. The court-appointed trustee estimated actual losses to investors of $18 billion."

Now to call a 150 year prison sentence 'somewhat lengthy' is an prize understatement to be sure. However, Madoff (quoting Rueters):

"The release date, which is academic in Madoff's case, automatically reflects a 20 year reduction for good behavior."

Hence he will die in prison. And he needs to. Scum sucking dog. However there needs to be more in prison. A lot more.

The fix

Yes, I do believe there is a fix for our economy. And it starts and ends with We the People. The very first thing we have got to do is let the 'doers', the 'enablers' and the frigging 'gamblers' know in no uncertain terms that We the People are not pleased. Not at all. We do this by voting:

Out all incumbents, and then;

In only third party candidates.

We can also use the recall process to get rid of those who are not up for reelection this cycle. Which is 2/3's of the Senate. Then we tell our newly elected representatives — America first. We tell 'em this until they are deaf. Forget:

Europe,

India,

Asia,

Africa, and the;

Middle East.

They are our companies, our jobs and therefore our economy. And it is certainly our country.

So what if the World Trade Organization gets ticked off. Who cares? I don't. So what if we violate a bunch of treaties. Again, who cares? I sure don't. Treaties can be rewritten or burned. America first.

We need in the worst possible way to bring our manufacturing back to the U.S. — where is belongs. Quoting Andy Grove's article:

"Today, manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is about 166,000 - lower than it was before the first personal computer, the MITS Altair 2800, was assembled in 1975. Meanwhile, a very effective computer-manufacturing industry has emerged in Asia, employing about 1.5 million workers - factory employees, engineers and managers.

"The largest of these companies is Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., also known as Foxconn. The company has grown at an astounding rate, first in Taiwan and later in China. Its revenue last year was $62 billion, larger than Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Dell Inc. or Intel. Foxconn employs more than 800,000 people, more than the combined worldwide head count of Apple, Dell, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard Co., Intel and Sony Corp."

800,000 jobs in China under one company's roof. Its revenue was a mere $62 billion. That is insane. And that is only one manufacturing company.

We must bring these jobs back home. I don't think we have any choice in the matter. Our country simply cannot sustain the costs associated with: